Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the band, while drummer Steve Shelley, who joined in 1985, rounded out the core lineup. Jim O'Rourke (bass, guitar, keyboards) was also a member from 1999 to 2005; Mark Ibold of Pavement (bass, guitar) joined in 2006 and remained in the band until their 2011 split.Sonic Youth emerged from Manhattan's no wave experimental art and music scene before evolving into a more conventional alternative rock band and becoming prominent in the American noise rock scene. Sonic Youth has been praised for having "redefined what rock guitar could do", including the use of a wide variety of unorthodox tunings and preparing guitars with objects like drumsticks and screwdrivers. The band was a pivotal influence on the alternative and indie rock movements.After gaining a large underground following and critical praise through releases with SST Records in the late 1980s, the band became more popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s after signing to major label DGC in 1990 and headlining the 1995 Lollapalooza festival. The band disbanded in 2011 following the separation and subsequent divorce of Gordon and Moore, with their final live shows taking place in Brazil. The members have since asserted that the band is finished and will not reunite.Shortly after guitarist Thurston Moore moved to New York City in early 1977, he formed the group Room Tone with his roommates; they later changed their name to the Coachmen. After the breakup of the Coachmen, Moore began jamming with Stanton Miranda, whose band, CKM, featured Kim Gordon. Moore and Gordon formed a band, appearing under names like Male Bonding, Red Milk, and the Arcadians before settling on Sonic Youth in mid-1981. This name came from combining the nickname of MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith with that of reggae artist Big Youth. Gordon later recalled that "as soon as Thurston came up with the name Sonic Youth, a certain sound that was more of what we wanted to do came about." The band played Noise Fest in June 1981 at New York's White Columns gallery, where Lee Ranaldo was playing as a member of composer Glenn Branca's electric guitar ensemble. Their performance impressed Moore, who described them as "the most ferocious guitar band that I had ever seen in my life", and he invited Ranaldo to join Sonic Youth. The new trio played three songs at the festival later in the week without a drummer. Each band member took turns playing the drums until they met drummer Richard Edson. Anne DeMarinis was in Sonic Youth for a brief period in 1981 as a keyboardist when they performed for the first time at Noise Fest. She performed, along with Gordon and Moore, on three known Sonic Youth songs performed only on June 18, 1981, and left the band before their self-titled debut EP was recorded in December.Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his label Neutral Records. In December 1981, the group recorded five songs at New York's Radio City Music Hall. This material was released as the EP Sonic Youth; while largely ignored, it was sent to a few key members of the American music press, who gave it uniformly favorable reviews. The EP featured a relatively conventional post-punk style, in contrast to their later releases. Edson then quit the group to play full time in his other band, KONK and was replaced by Bob Bert.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.